Agent Carl Mark Force IV was part of the Baltimore-based task force which investigated Silk Road, the online darknet market. As a member of the task force, Carl worked undercover under the alias (Nob) and developed a good working relationship with Ross Ulbricht, the Silk Road creator.

During this time, Carl Mark Force IV, the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) agent solicited and received the digital currency as payments for his illegal “favors.” He used a fake online name to steal from both the government and the investigation’s targets. In addition, he had improper conduct and stole sensitive information about the Silk Road case and sold it to the site’s leader (Ross Ulbricht). He was separately charged with stealing government property.

Before his arrest, Force had attempted to invest the bitcoins he had attained in a bitcoin start-up. He wrote the company’s owner requesting to become his partner and take up a role as the company’s compliance officer. He claimed that he had accumulated the millions of dollars worth of bitcoins when they were still cheap and wanted to invest them before they became too popular. Force further stated that he intended to leave the DEA and focus on investing in digital currency. However, the company’s owner sensed that something about Force was not quite right and did not respond to his requests.

The U.S. Attorney’s office also confirmed that Carl had actually used other identities that hadn’t been DEA approved in the Silk Road investigations. One such identity was that of a “French Maid.”

In October 2013, the Silk Road servers were seized and thus giving the law enforcement complete access to all messages sent among the site’s users. One such conversation was between the site leader (Dread Pirate Roberts) and French Maid. At one point, Carl mark made a mistake and signed of as Carl. However, he was quick to correct his mistake and sent another message in an attempt to clarify that his name was Carla Sophia. According to the case, investigators also discovered that “French maid” and “Nob” used the same encrypted software that was also outdated.

One of the strongest clues that tied French Maid to Carl was the money trail. The Silk Road server-data revealed that on 15th September 2013, Dread Pirate Roberts paid French Maid seven hundred and seventy bitcoins which at the time was worth approximately ninety eight thousand dollars. Around the same time, Dread Pirate Roberts also recorded the payment in his journal.

Despite their efforts to hide the bitcoins destination by breaking them up into four (separate) bitcoin addresses, the investigators traced their movement through the block-chain analysis that all lead to Carl’s account. In addition, at least six hundred bitcoins from this account were transferred to another account at Bitstamp. This particular account was in fact owned by Carl Force and had been registered using his date of birth, home address, personal email address and personal bank account. More bitcoins of a high value were also funneled to Carl’s personal checking account thus connecting him directly to the payments made by Dread Pirate Roberts to French Maid.

In many occasions, Force tried to use his DEA position for his own gain. For instance, he invested one hundred and ten thousand dollars worth of bitcoins into CoinMKT. While still working as a DEA agent, he was the de facto Chief Compliance Officer for CoinMKT. He even features in the pitch desk at CoinMKT to venture investors for capital. Furthermore, he was listed as Coin-MKT’s compliance officer so as to benefit Coin-MKT. The conversations that he had with the staff at CoinMKT further implied that he intended to leave the DEA and work for the company.

Earlier this year, Carl Force was indicted for obstruction of justice, money laundering and extortion. He was also accused of stealing both information and money in form of bitcoins during the Silk Road investigations. In July, he pled guilty for the charges. According to the recent court documents, the defense sought leniency for Carl Force on the basis of his mental health problems at the time and work environment. The defense requested for the sentence to be four years.

However, Richard Seeborg, the US District Judge said that the betrayal of public trust by Force was breathtaking and was simply motivated by greed. He also stated that Force’s greed and thrill seeking nature lead him to go as far as pursuing a movie and book deal.

Although the US government requested for a seven year and three months sentencing, Carl Mark Force IV was sentenced to six years and six months in a federal prison.

Force was also ordered to pay three thousand dollars in restitution to Curtis Green who is a former employee of Silk Road. In addition, the court ordered that he pay three hundred and thirty seven thousand dollars to an undisclosed party identified as RP.

Shaun Bridges, another federal agent was also charged with obstruction of justice and money laundering. He also pleaded guilty for stealing over eight hundred thousand dollars in bitcoins. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for December.

ANNOUNCEMENT: Well it has happened! Another Silkroad Darknet Market has spawned after the demise of Silkroad 2.0. The new site is called Silkroad Reloaded and is utilizing different technology than its predecessors therefore a new guide for Silkroad Reloaded will be coming soon. In the mean time Agora Marketplace is still alive and kicking bigger than ever with more listings than Silkroad 2.0.

It seems like the Silk Road is a notorious darknet marketplace that people might not soon forget. After the original Silkroad was closed down by authorities in October 2013, and Silkroad 2.0 faced a similar fate late last year during Operation Onymous, Silk Road 3.0 is already open for business.

In fact, the third incarnation of Silkroad opened hours after the authorities took down Silkroad 2.0, welcoming its visitors to “Silk Road Reloaded” on its homepage. In the true spirit of its fallen predecessors, the site is essentially a drug-dealing bonanza that has broad offerings of illegal drugs. However, is Silk Road 3.0 another drug e-commerce?

Just like its predecessors, the online black market Silk Road 3.0 allows drug dealers to meet drug users in an anonymous platform where the purchase decisions were relatively risk-free. The Silkroad Reloaded even perpetuates the libertarian views popularized by Ulbricht, the founder of the original Silkroad.

The success of the first Silkroad was a first in the online illicit market, since it was able to handle business worth over $1 billion. Silkroad 2.0 was also quite successful given its ability to make about $8 million a month for about a year before it succumbed to law enforcement efforts to close it down.

When the Silk Road Reloaded gained popularity after Silkroad 2.0 was shut down, there was a consensus that it would not become another drug e-commerce site like its predecessors did, but this remains to be seen.

At its launch, the Silk Road Reloaded was a Tor hidden site that many believed would not stand the test of time. However, it has recently switched to the use of I2P, which it believes to be more secure than the Tor network, which was used by both of its predecessors. Nevertheless, its singular focus on being a choice market for illegal drugs could very well make it another major drug e-commerce.

ANNOUNCEMENT: Well it has happened! Another Silk Road Darknet Market has spawned after the demise of Silk Road 2.0. The new site is called Silk Road Reloaded and is utilizing different technology than its predecessors therefore a new guide for Silk Road Reloaded will be coming soon. In the meantime Agora Marketplace is still alive and kicking bigger than ever with more listings than Silk Road 2.0.

Silk Road Reloaded, a new version of the online black market site, Silkroad, has been launched on the I2p anonymous decentralized network. This new online black market accepts several alternative cryptocurrencies, also called altcoins.

Launching on I2p anonymous network and accepting several altcoins are the two things which set Silkroad Reloaded apart from its predecessors. While the original Silkroad and Silkroad 2.0 made use of Tor network and Bitcoin cryptocurrency, Silkroad Reloaded will accept at least eight different types of cryptocurrency, including Dogecoin, Anoncoin, and Darkcoin. Others will be added in the future.

Silkroad Reloaded list many illicit items that one can imagine, except stolen credit card credentials and weapons. Of course, it goes without saying that this new black market site will list many illicit drugs for sale.

Other online black markets have struggled to find option to set up marketplaces after Silkroad 2.0 shut down in November last year. The biggest fear was whether Tor network had been compromised by U.S. government, which seems entirely plausible considering the history surrounding Tor. Silkroad Reloaded has avoided that trap entirely and gone ahead with I2p tech instead.

The I2p technology, also known as the Invisible Internet Project, is the same tech used by TheMarketplace, one of Silkroad’s competitors. Though not as famous as Silkroad, TheMarketplace is on the darkest, deepest web out there, even deeper than Tor, and is almost impossible to access. To access this network anonymously, one must use a custom operating system that is tailored specifically for this purpose. Once all the settings have been configured, users can then browse .i2p sites (eepSites) which can be accessed only on the I2p network.

According to report, as of now Silkroad Reloaded looks almost deserted with very little activity, but once it starts gaining traction thatcould all change.

Disclaimer

This website is just a blog that delivers the latest news on the Silk Road and it's latest versions of the Darknet Markets with the same name. We are in no way connected with these or any other Darknet Marketplaces. The information here is just intended for informational use and is not meant to be used for advice in any way. We do not endorse the use of illegal drugs and do not encourage any illegal activities in any way.